In many fields, it is important to be able to apply an element such as a patch or a holding means such as a stud, a machine nut, or machine screw, or just a flat plate. Thus, it is often important to be able to repair or cover a hole in the skin of an airplane, to patch or cover a hole in a vessel where it is not practical to gain access to the interior of the vessel, where a device must be attached to a supporting member without making a hole through the supporting member as where a rear view mirror is to be attached to a glass windshield, etc, In many of these instances, it is possible to make the attachment by means of an adhesive but in other instances it is necessary or desirable to use another form of bonding such as by soldering, brazing, or welding. In all of the applications concerned herein, it is necessary that the element to be attached be located with reasonable precision and held in the desired location while the bonding is being effected and in most cases with pressure being applied to the element being attached, forcing it against the supporting surface.
Heretofore, it has usually been considered necessary to provide clamps or other means to hold the device to be bonded in position. Such clamps or holding means, sometimes referred to as fixtures, are not convenient to use in many instances, and the need has long existed for some method and appropriate corresponding equipment to bond an element to a surface.